Multicriteria analysis of innovation ecosystems and the impact of human capital and investments on Brazilian industries

Innovation is one of the main factors associated with industrial growth, as it contributes to increased productivity, sustainability, and international competitiveness. There is a certain degree of complexity in measuring innovation, since there are various metrics for this purpose, and each sector of the economy handles it differently. In Brazil, the Industrial Survey of Technological Innovation (PINTEC) was developed to construct sectorial indicators on innovation activities. Based on these data, this paper investigates how ten sectors of the economy performed during two historical series (2011 to 2014 and 2014 to 2017) considering five criteria linked to the innovation process and the impact of qualified human capital. The problem is analyzed in light of multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA), using preference ranking organization methods for enrichment evaluation (PROMETHEE II) to provide a ranking of Brazilian industrial sectors. The results show how the sectors have changed over the years, highlighting that innovation expenditure proved crucial in measuring companies' commitment to innovation, but also show that a highly qualified workforce emerged as a leading factor. Furthermore, the research presents which criteria have contributed positively and negatively to each sector, which can serve as drivers for policy formulation to strengthen the Brazilian industry.